My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 655

Chapter 655

Somewhere below, one of our guards changed shifts. I heard quiet footsteps across the courtyard before everything settled again.

Every few minutes my thoughts wandered back to Gianna. Then I deliberately pulled them away again, I had already replayed the night enough times. Doing it another hundred wouldn’t change what had happened.

The sky slowly began to change. Black became dark blue. Dark blue became grey. Birds started appearing in the gardens. Sprinklers hissed softly across the lawns.

The estate woke before anyone inside it did.

I glanced at the clock on my bedside table.

6:58.

Two minutes.

I waited.

When the digital numbers changed to 07:00. I walked into the bathroom. I turned the shower on and waited until the water grew hot before stepping beneath it.

The heat struck my shoulders. I closed my eyes. Afterward I dried off, brushed my teeth, shaved, and dressed without giving any of it conscious thought. Fresh white shirt, dark charcoal suit, black tie, watch, wallet and phone.

When I looked into the mirror… I looked exactly as I always did. Only I knew how little that reflected what was happening inside my head.

I picked up my car keys and left my room. The kitchen staff moved quietly through the hallways now, security teams exchanged reports. A few soldiers nodded respectfully as I passed. I acknowledged each one before walking outside.

I slid behind the wheel of my car. The gates opened before I reached them. I drove out onto the empty road. Chicago slowly came alive around me. Traffic thickened the closer I moved toward her neighborhood.

I hadn’t spoken properly to Aunt Alessia yesterday. There hadn’t been an opportunity. The funeral had been full of people, condolences, business, security and Gianna.

Alessia…

If anyone could help me understand how to bring Gianna back, It was probably her. The navigation turned me onto a quiet private road lined with century-old oak trees.

At the end stood the Lombardi estate.

The property occupied several acres. Stone walls surrounded the entire estate. Security cameras covered every angle. Steel gates stood closed across the entrance.

Two armed Lombardi soldiers stepped forward before my car had completely stopped. Both rested their hands close enough to their weapons that the message didn’t require words.

I climbed the front steps. I barely reached the top when I stopped.

Remo Lombardi stood near one of the stone columns, completely unaware that anyone had arrived.

Three-month-old Isabella rested securely in one arm against his chest.

She was wrapped in a pale blanket, one tiny fist gripping the front of his black shirt.

Remo looked down at her with an expression I had never seen on his face before.

The man who usually looked ready to start a fight with the nearest living thing was gently rocking from one foot to the other.

“You think you’re very important, don’t you?” he muttered, his voice so absurdly soft I almost questioned whether I’d heard him correctly, “Little princess hasn’t even learned to sit up and she’s already ordering everyone around.”

Isabella made a tiny sound.

Remo’s mouth twitched, “Oh, was that your opinion?” he asked in the same quiet voice. “You’re right. They’re all idiots. You’re the only smart one in this house.”